Page 6 of Bad Hugh / by Mary J. Holmes.

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bending tree, drifted against the doors, and beat against the
windows, whence a cheerful light was gleaming, telling of life
and possible happiness within. There were no flowing curtains
before the windows, no drapery sweeping to the floor, nothing
save blinds without and simple shades within, neither of which
were doing service now, for the master of the house would have
it so in spite of his sister's remonstrances.
Some one might lose their way on that terrible night, he said,
and the blaze of the fire on the hearth, which could be seen from
afar, would be to them a beacon light to guide them on their
way. Nobody would look in upon them, as Adaline, or 'Lina as
she chose to be called, and as all did call her except himself,
seemed to think there might, and even if they did, why need
she care To be sure she was not quite as fixey as she was on
pleasant days when there was a possibility of visitors, and her
cheeks were not quite so red, but she was looking well enough,
and she'd undone all those little tags or braids which disfigured
her so shockingly in the morning, but which, when brushed and
carefully arranged, did give her hair that waving appearance
she so much desired. As for himself, he never meant to do any-
thing of which he was ashamed, so he did not care how many
were watching him through the window, and stamping his
heavy boots upon the rug, for he had just come in from the
storm Hugh Worthington piled fresh fuel upon the fire, and,
shaking back the mass of short brown curls which had fallen
upon lts forehead, strode across the room and arranged the
shades to his own liking, paying no heed when his more fas-
tidious sister, with a frown upon her dark, handsome face, mut-
tered something about the " Stanley taste."
" There, Kelpie, lie there," he continued, returning to the
hearth, and, addressing a small, white, shaggy dog, which, with
a human look in its round, pink eyes, obeyed the voice it knew
and loved, and crouched down in the corner at a safe distance
from the young lady, whom it seemed instinctively to know as
an enemy.
" Do, pray, Hugh, let the dirty things stay where they are,"
Uina exclaimed, as she saw her brother walk toward the dining-
room, and guessed his errand. " Nobody wants a pack of dogs
under their feet. I wonder you don't bring in your pet horse,
saddle and alL."
"I did want to when I beard how piteously be cried after
m as J leIt tille stable to-night," said Hugh, at the same time
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BAD HUGH